¤ 13 - Just a dream
[there is no Christmas in Zuko's world but, somehow, elements of the holiday have crept in, mixing obliviously with the holidays he knows. The result is both peaceful, and impossible.
After the formal work of the morning--addressing the court, attending ceremonies and a festive meal--the royal family finally gets time to itself. The garden air is warm and mild, glittering decorations of red and gold string along the walls and hang from the trees. The distant war is temporarily forgotten, all strife locked far away outside the palace walls.
And Prince Zuko finds himself smiling. He's right where he should be-- with his people, his family. There's no scar to remind him; there's no Avatar to taunt him. Just a family, and a pond, and a few turtleducks wandering into the water as he crosses the garden.]
Are we going to open presents soon?
[the woman beside him, with a distinctly motherly smile, nudges him forward]
Go on, play for a little while. I don't know about you, but I need a rest after such a big meal.
[and then, a little girl at his other side tugs on his arm. Some part of his mind recognizes that she's much younger than she should be, but he doesn't mind] --Yeah! C'mon, Zuzu. Play with me.
I will, Azula. In a minute.
[he detaches her from his sleeve and she goes running at the ducks, scaring the rest of them into the water and laughing gleefully to herself while Zuko settles down on a stone bench near the pond. From here, he can see them all, all at once. It's a rare thing, to have them all together like this, without some awful undercurrent of tension. His mother chatting with his uncle, both keeping an eye on his sister at the water's edge. And, behind them, a darker and more impressive figure. The Fire Lord, his father... watching his family with the faintest hint of a content smile.
...Zuko can't help but hold his head high.]
((ooc: so super open to anyone. Merry Christmas, Paradisa!))
After the formal work of the morning--addressing the court, attending ceremonies and a festive meal--the royal family finally gets time to itself. The garden air is warm and mild, glittering decorations of red and gold string along the walls and hang from the trees. The distant war is temporarily forgotten, all strife locked far away outside the palace walls.
And Prince Zuko finds himself smiling. He's right where he should be-- with his people, his family. There's no scar to remind him; there's no Avatar to taunt him. Just a family, and a pond, and a few turtleducks wandering into the water as he crosses the garden.]
Are we going to open presents soon?
[the woman beside him, with a distinctly motherly smile, nudges him forward]
Go on, play for a little while. I don't know about you, but I need a rest after such a big meal.
[and then, a little girl at his other side tugs on his arm. Some part of his mind recognizes that she's much younger than she should be, but he doesn't mind] --Yeah! C'mon, Zuzu. Play with me.
I will, Azula. In a minute.
[he detaches her from his sleeve and she goes running at the ducks, scaring the rest of them into the water and laughing gleefully to herself while Zuko settles down on a stone bench near the pond. From here, he can see them all, all at once. It's a rare thing, to have them all together like this, without some awful undercurrent of tension. His mother chatting with his uncle, both keeping an eye on his sister at the water's edge. And, behind them, a darker and more impressive figure. The Fire Lord, his father... watching his family with the faintest hint of a content smile.
...Zuko can't help but hold his head high.]
((ooc: so super open to anyone. Merry Christmas, Paradisa!))